New NC State Board of Elections and Ethics Bill Heads to Gov. Cooper

Back in Dec. 2016 during the infamous Special Session power grab, one of the casualties was the separate structure of the Board of Elections and the State Ethics Commission, with the legislature merging the two into one board and eliminating the Governor's ability to appoint members and retain a majority control.

However, this has been one of the longest running court battles we've seen from the #CarolinaCoup, and the legislature's attempts at various forms of re-structure have been shot down each time. We created a simple timeline to help refresh your memory about what has been happening with the BOE since 2016.

Essentially, the last court ruling required the NCSBOEE to revert back to its original (separate) structure with a newly extended deadline of Dec. 28. Just today, lawmakers sped through a new bill which achieves that goal, and looks to have broad bi-partisan approval regardless of the rushed and non-traditional approach to passing it.

Read our latest post here to see the features of the new Board of Elections and State Ethics Commission (at the end of the timeline). Hopefully this will be the end of the court battles over this board!

New Election Almost a Certainty for NC's Congressional District 09

The State Board of Elections is still investigating the election tampering in NC09 and has issued subpoenas to the Harris and McVickers campaigns as well as to Red Dome, the consulting group who hired McCrae Dowless. The deadline remains Dec. 21 for a public evidentiary hearing, but that may be delayed if the parties being subpoeaned don't act in a timely manner.

No doubt you've seen a lot of national coverage on this, but here are a few good pieces we've earmarked that are worth a read.

And if you thought one special election was enough in 2019, there's a chance we could end up with two! Could we be lucky enough to replace Mark Meadows with someone who didn't endorse Roy Moore last year or claim that men should pay less for health insurance since they don't require maternity coverage?

VoterID Bill Passes House and Senate, and is with the Governor

To veto or not to veto is the question now. What will Gov. Cooper do? This bill did expand the types of eligible ID, required that County BOEs issue free IDs to those without an eligible one, and allowed for several amendments including extending the period when free IDs could be offered through the end of the Early Voting deadline.

However, this bill comes with very little funding, no serious analysis or attempt at securing elections from the type of fraud we've seen in NC09. Instead of taking their time and proposing a full spectrum bill which could include updating election machinery, sensible voter roll maintenance, securing absentee ballots and expanding the voter registration process, they have pushed through whatever they could before the session ends along with their veto override.

One positive concession is that the effective date has been delayed until September 2019 to avoid conflicts with any special elections which may occur prior to then.

Local Civil Rights Icon Rosanell Eaton Passes Away at 97

We lost a hero on the voting rights front this week when Rosanell Eaton passed away. If you are not familiar with Ms. Eaton, her story is a fascinating one of determination, leadership and perseverance.

Ms. Eaton was one of the first black women to vote in Franklin County, after a two hour mule ride to the polling place. There she was required to stand at attention and recite the preamble to the Constitution by memory, as well as pass a written literacy test, which many could not do at the time.

She later became a plaintiff in the case against NC's 2013 Monster Voting Law, which was successfully overturned after she was denied her hard fought right to vote in the 2016 primary when the existing law required her to show an ID, and her birth certificate name did not match her driver's license.

Her final show of perseverance was protesting against the nomination of Thomas Farr as a federal judge in Eastern NC, and it is fitting that she could pass away peacefully knowing that battle had been won.

Notable Events

Tuesdays With Tillis is celebrating their 100th consecutive protest anniversary next Tuesday, Dec. 18th at 11:30 outside of Sen. Thom Tillis' office. Join them if you can! 310 New Bern Ave., Raleigh. Head over to the NCGA afterwards to observe the final week of their session.